2. Names of Places and People

Consider the most recent and credible sources for decolonizing language.

 

Use as specific terminology as possible; e.g., "unhoused" over "homeless."

These are ideally resources compiled by the communities in question. These instances can be as granular as using "sectarianism" rather than "tribalism" when referring to language outside of Native discourses; another example, advise the author not to use terms such as "third-world countries" but rather advise the author to be as specific as possible when describing states. If possible, discourage them from aggregating economic, political or cultural identities at all. "Developing countries" or "Global South" might be attractive and sometimes accurate, but the first suggests a hierarchy between "developed" and "developed countries," and the second suggests a geographical orientation that is not always accurate. For more on this topic, reference this page.

• e.g., when referring to a community of Native peoples, first of all, use "community" not "Tribes" unless it is used by a Native author and research that community's specific autonym. Furthermore, advise the author to include IPA or phonetic pronunciation in parentheses. For an excellent resource for Native style in publications, reference this page.
• e.g., the Spokane people are spoqín people, and there are three clans: the sntʔtʔúlixʷ (Upper Spokan), the snxʷme̓nʔey (Middle Spokan), and the scqesciłni (Lower Spokan). For more on this, reference this page. These responsibilities should be shared between the editor and the author in equal measure.